105 Conn. App. 862 - State v. Hamlett’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

42 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 42 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Connecticut long ago adopted the rule that there is no practical significance in being labeled an accessory or a principal for the purpose of determining criminal responsibility.... The modern approach is to abandon completely the old common law terminology and simply provide that a person is legally accountable for the conduct of another when he is an accomplice of the other person in the commission of the crime.... Connecticut has taken the same approach through General Statutes § 53a-8.... There is no meaningful distinction between principal and accessory liability; they are simply theories for proving criminal liability. Given that a defendant may be convicted as an accessory even though he was charged only as a principal ... we reject his argument that evidence sufficient to convict a defendant as a principal would be insufficient for a conviction under the theory of accessory liability.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 179 Conn. App. 285 - Gamble v. Commissioner of Correction

2. “the remedy of a mistrial is permitted under the rules of practice, it is not favored. [A] mistrial should be granted only as a result of some occurrence upon the trial of such a character that it is apparent to the court that because of it a party cannot have a fair trial ... and the whole proceedings are vitiated.... In [its] review of the denial of a motion for mistrial, [our Supreme Court has] recognized the broad discretion that is vested in the trial court to decide whether an occurrence at trial has so prejudiced a party that he or she can no longer receive a fair trial.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 180 Conn. App. 291 - State v. Walker

3. “In general, abuse of discretion exists when a court could have chosen different alternatives but has decided the matter so arbitrarily as to vitiate logic, or has decided it based on improper or irrelevant factors.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 170 Conn. App. 615 - State v. Connor